Journalism of Courage
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This is an archive article published on October 11, 2011
1m to fix a Test,says Majeed
A British sports agent representing two Pakistani cricketers accused of a betting scam told an undercover reporter that Test matches could be thrown for 1 million
A British sports agent representing two Pakistani cricketers accused of a betting scam told an undercover reporter that Test matches could be thrown for 1 million,a court in London heard on Monday. The claim emerged as the former investigations editor for Rupert Murdochs now-defunct News of the World tabloid,Mazher Mahmood,gave evidence at the trial of ex-Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt and bowler Mohammad Asif.
The jury heard an audio recording of the two cricketers agent Mazhar Majeed talking to the reporter during a secretly recorded conversation in a car,and outlining the prices for different forms of fixing. There is massive,massive money in this, Majeed was heard to say in the recording played to Southwark Crown Court.
Majeed said that for a bracket where bets are made on incidents during a certain period of play the cost could be between 50,000 and 80,000 78,000 and 125,000. For a result,Twenty20 is about 400,000 and Test matches,depending on the situation,is about 1 million.
He said that he was dealing with a contact in India,adding: Indian bookmakers,think of how many millions are bet on these games. Mahmood gave evidence behind a screen after the judge made an order banning publication of descriptions of his appearance because the journalist has argued his security could be compromised.
The agent said he would give the journalist the names of the players and inform him of exactly what the players are going to do. They will do their job, he promised. Naming famous former Pakistan national cricketers,the agent said in the recording: Its been happening for centuries. Its been happening for years. Wasim,Waqar,Ijaz Ahmed,Moin Khan they all did it. Majeed went on to allege that Australian players would fix brackets. The Australians,they are the biggest. They have 10 brackets a game, he said.
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